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Utes move up two spots to No. 11 in the AP Top 25

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Northern Illinois Huskies running back Marcus Jones goes for the ball, after Utah Utes defensive end Bradlee Anae (6) striped the ball from Northern Illinois Huskies quarterback Ross Bowers (12) in football action between Northern Illinois Huskies and Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019.

  | Sep. 8, 2019, 6:49 p.m.
| Updated: Sep. 9, 2019, 9:30 p.m.

Utah’s 35-17 victory over Northern Illinois earned the Utes their highest-ever mid-September ranking for the second week in a row.

Thanks to Texas A&M’s loss to Clemson and Texas’ loss to LSU, Utah moved to No. 11 in the AP Top 25, announced Sunday. The Utes jumped three spots to No. 12 in the Coaches Poll, with Texas A&M, Texas and Washington falling below them.

The Utes will host Idaho State on Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, then open Pac-12 play against two Top 25 teams. Utah will visit No. 24 USC on Sept. 20 and host No. 20 Washington State on Sept. 28. The Pac-12′s Oregon (No. 15) and Washington (No. 23) also are ranked, although Washington dropped nine spots after a 20-19 loss to California in a weather-delayed game that ended early Sunday morning in Seattle.

Utah has been ranked in the AP Top 10 only once in September. In 2015, the Utes were No. 10 after beating Michigan, Utah State, Fresno State and Oregon.